1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of push brooms or manual sweepers and more particularly to a novel push broom or sweeper having a spring means compressible between a pair of handle sections adapted to normally expand to forcibly urge one of the sections carrying a brush or broom forward in engagement with a floor or surface intended to be swept.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to employ a manual push broom or sweeper which engages a floor surface for the purpose of gathering or collecting dirt, dust, or debris. The length of stroke for a sweep is limited to the length of the handle and/or the hand gripping by the user. For this reason, for a given surface area, multiple sweeping strokes are necessary in order to rid the surface of dirt, dust or debris. Also, problems and difficulties have been encountered when using conventional push brooms or sweepers which stem largely from the fact that a certain force is needed in order to maintain a good brushing engagement between the bristles of the brush or sweeper and the floor surface intended to be swept. Such a force is generally applied directly by the user through the handle to the bristles of the brush. For this reason, the handle and the bristles of the brush which are normally carried on a brush head or body are rigid and represent a solid, continuous load bearing structure through the handle into the brush head and consequently into the bristles themselves. There is no flexibility in the handle as this would add to the problem of load transmission.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a manual push broom or sweeper which includes a resilient means in the handle for exerting a forceful load to the bristles of the brush or sweeper in addition to the manual effort needed to push the brush. Also, such means should provide for automatically extending the length of the broom or sweeper handle so that the length of sweeping stroke can be increased from that of a conventional push broom or sweeper.
Accordingly, the above problems and difficulties are avoided by the present invention which provides a novel push broom or sweeper having a plurality of bristles which are secured to the underside of a brush head or body. The broom further includes an elongated handle having one end connected to the body of the broom and the opposite end readily available for gripping by the user in order to perform sweeping strokes across a floor surface or the like. A feature of the invention resides in providing the handle and two telescoping related sections having a compression spring mounted therebetween which normally expands to force one section away from the other in order to extend the linear length of the handle. The compression spring is compressed upon engagement of the bristle with the floor intended to be swept and when the force on the handle is relaxed by the user, the spring expands to force the section of the handle outwardly so as to apply an automatic force to the bristles for engaging with the surface of the floor. A guide means is provided between the two sections so that linear movement between the sections is assured and a collapsible or flexible boot covers the compression spring and the guide means by having the opposite ends of the boot secured respectively to each of the sections. Also, bushing means are provided between the sliding portions of the sections and such bushings are adapted to mount the opposite ends of the compression spring whereby one end of the spring is attached to one section and the other end of the spring is attached to the other section. Therefore, as the push broom is pushed forward, the spring will compress due to the pressure of the bristles against the floor surface causing the sections to be drawn together while the normal tendency of the spring to expand provides a load force to the bristles for the sweeping action. Upon conclusion of a sweeping stroke, the user relaxes the pushing force which allows the compression spring to expand forcibly urging the bristles to automatically advance forward for a limited distance preparatory for the next sweeping stroke.
Therefore, it is among the primary objects of the present invention to provide a novel push broom or manual sweeper which includes means for automatically advancing the bristles of the broom forward preparatory for a sweeping stroke and which will automatically provide a force to the bristles for engaging the sweeping surface during the progress of the sweeping stroke.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel push broom or sweeper which includes automatic means for advancing or extending the length of the handle of a push broom by means of spring expansion and for automatically applying a force between the bristles and the surface to be swept when the spring expands during a sweeping procedure.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a two section handle for a push broom having a pair of telescoping sections which are connected together by means of a compression spring and which is covered by a protective expandable boot.
A further object resides in providing a push broom which conserves the energy of the user by employing a compression spring in the handle of the broom.
Still a further object of the invention resides in providing a spring-loaded handle for a push broom which serves as a cushion to the user during a sweeping operation and which does not require a full-arms reach in order to properly sweep the surface of a floor.
A further object incorporated into the invention resides in providing a spring-loaded handle for a push broom having a rotating pin in an outer and upper section of the handle and which further includes a groove in a bushing serving as a detente means for maintaining the handle sections in alignment for linear sliding movement therebetween.